Sitaw

Ginisang Sitaw (sautéed beans) by Mildred Cruz

When you say sitaw, the first thing that Filipinos think of are yardlong beans, then string beans.

The yardlong beans used in the dish above have the scientific name Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis. These beans are thus chopped or sliced, and can be stir-fried or stewed in bagoong-based dishes such as pinakbet and dinengdeng. Other Filipino dishes that can have yardlong beans as ingredients are sinigang and kare-kare.

In the Philippines, the regular-length green string beans are called “Baguio beans” because they thrive in the cool climate of the mountain city Baguio. They’re known to a few English speakers also by the French name haricots verts. These have the scientific name Phaseolus vulgaris.